Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly next week, he said Saturday, as Russia unleashed one of its heaviest aerial barrages in weeks and Ukraine launched deadly retaliatory strikes inside Russia.
Russia fired 40 missiles and about 580 drones at Ukraine overnight, killing at least three people and wounding dozens, Zelensky said. A missile carrying cluster munitions hit an apartment building in Dnipro, setting cars and homes ablaze, local officials reported.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones hit Russia’s Samara region, killing four people and striking oil facilities in Samara and Saratov, the regional governor and Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed. Moscow said its air defences downed 149 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Zelensky said his planned meeting with Trump will focus on Western security guarantees for Ukraine and tougher sanctions on Moscow. He repeated Kyiv’s call for a ceasefire and direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but said Moscow had “ruled out” any such meeting.
Fighting raged across Ukraine’s east, with Russia claiming control of the village of Berezove in Dnipropetrovsk and heavy clashes reported near Kupiansk in Kharkiv.
The escalation came a day after Estonia accused Moscow of violating its airspace, prompting NATO allies to boost joint air patrols on the alliance’s eastern flank.
Three rounds of peace talks since 2022 have failed to break the deadlock, with Russia demanding Ukraine cede territory and Kyiv insisting on full sovereignty and Western peacekeepers—terms Moscow rejects.
